WASHINGTON — If the U.S. Air Force determines it needs an OA-X light attack aircraft this summer, it will find strong support in the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has already authorized $1.2 billion to begin buying new planes. SASC, which dropped its version of the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday night, is currently the only congressional committee that has approved funding for a potential OA-X program. The U.S. Air Force itself has not even committed to starting up a program of record, intending instead to make a decision after it flies a handful of planes this August at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. “The idea behind putting in funding is to actually move this program along,” a Senate aide said Thursday in a background briefing with reporters. “The committee thinks it’s a good idea and that needs to [progress]. The best way...